Thirteen Again

I got braces for the fourth, yes fourth, time a little over six months ago. My teeth are still straight, but my TMJ has flared up. I first got them as an awkward seventh grader. Also in seventh grade, I got contact lenses and a unibrow (but that's another post altogether). The major difference is that as a teenager, everyone had braces, now everyone has camera phones. This is what my sweet friend Chelley chose to capture for posterity on the day I got my braces:

Isn't that nice of her? Another thing about braces at 31 is the cost of cleaning devices. When I was 13, a Waterpik magically appeared on my bathroom counter along with floss threaders, a special toothbrush, and baking soda toothpaste. Now, I go to WalMart and have to figure out where the floss threaders are and whether or not I should get a name brand Waterpik or not. And are there coupons for this paraphernalia? No way!

I ask every month how long I will be wearing them and every month I get the same answer, 'Not long'. Oh well, it's not so bad. I am very aware of how foods will arrange themselves in between the wires and my teeth. Lettuce: not my friend. I'm sure Ben gets pretty embarrassed because I'm an avid smiler and don't always have access to a mirror to check my smile. I hope this one is clean.

Making a Baby

I see pregnant people. Everywhere. Every single time I go to Target, I swear, everyone in there is pregnant. Even the men! Since Ben and I have been trying to get pregnant, it has consumed me. I'm 31, and I hear tick-tock tick-tock all day long. We've had a little trouble, so my obsession became an everyday stressor. I was allergic to Clomid, so I take Femara and it has helped me to ovulate every month, but after a year-no baby. Then, I talked to a girl I hadn't seen in a while and she and her husband have been trying for several years to conceive with no luck. She gives herself injections and takes oral medication. Next, I saw another future mama who has had three miscarriages and smiles and rubs her 26 week pregnant belly while she tells me about all that she has gone through to conceive and carry a baby. This made me really realize that the more I stress about it, the longer it will be before we have a plus sign. I'm calm now and just waiting for my turn to say 'No!' and 'Stop that!' We just tried our first artificial insemination last Friday, so we'll keep our fingers crossed as we wait two weeks before I can take a test. I never realized making babies was actually more like a scientific experiment with microscopes, test tubes and syringes!